To Forgive and Never Forget
by IndusLotus2001
Summary: Hitsugaya wants to apologize to Hinamori for the "misunderstanding" with Aizen, but when she won't talk to him, he'll find he needs help from none other than Matsumoto.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is just a spur of the moment thing. I've been reading a lot of HitsuHina fanfiction lately, (it's my favorite Bleach pairing), and randomly got this idea. I thought I'd see how it goes. Review please!**

_Full Summary: Hitsugaya wants to apologize to Hinamori for the "misunderstanding" with Aizen, but when she won't talk to him, he'll find he needs help from none other than Matsumoto._

**Notes: In this fic, things are a little different. It's been a few months since Aizen's defeat. Hinamori has been released from Squad 12's care just one day before. Going by the anime, Ichigo still has his powers and the whole thing with Nozumi is over. **

**Also, I'll probably interchange taicho and captain, lieutenant and fukataicho, and Matsumoto and Rangiku throughout the story, depending on what I think sounds better with each sentence. I'll probably do that with all the characters, so please just bet with me. **

**Also, anything that seem like hardcore facts such as characters' ages or age differences are just made up unless they were explicitly addressed in the anime. **

**Finally, I know I don't spell Toshiro's name correctly (I use a 'u' after the 'To') but I for used to spelling it that way since I thought that was how it was spelled, so again, just bear with me. **

**Thank you! So, without further ado, here's Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Are there several HitsuHina episodes in the Bleach anime? By several meaning, a third of what's come out? No? Then there you have it folks: I do not own Bleach**

Hitsugaya was sitting at desk doing that day's paper work when the cheery voice of his lieutenant interrupted him. "Taicho!" Matsumoto cried, poking her head into his quarters. "Guess what?"

"Whatever it is, I don't care," was Hitsugaya's response.

"Oh Taicho, you're so mean!" Matsumoto pouted.

Hitsugaya just sighed.

"You don't even know what my news is and already you've shot me down," Rangiku went on.

"Like I said Rangiku, I don't care. What I _do_ care about is you finishing those five piles of paperwork that's been sitting on your desk for five hours now."

Matsumoto blushed and started to back out.

"And don't even think about sneaking out to get out of it," Hitsugaya added, not even looking up. Rangiku sighed. Her Captain knew her too well. "You're a lieutenant Rangiku, you can't shirk on your duties."

"But Taicho-"

"I don't care how boring or annoying it is Rangiku. Just do it!" Hitsugaya cried.

"Are you sure you don't want to hear my news first?" Rangiku asked, entering Toushiro's office, closing the door behind her, and settling on the couch, ready to do at least some of the paperwork.

"Yes," Hitsugaya answered.

"Okay. Then I guess I won't tell you that Nemu told me that Kurotsuchi Taicho released Hinamori from his care today," Matsumoto said sneakily, smiling.

"What?" Hitsugaya yelled.

"So I guess this was news you wanted to hear, huh Taicho?" Rangiku smirked.

Not bothering to answer, Hitsugaya bolted out of the office and flash stepped to Hinamori's house. He knew what he had to do.

During the battle with Aizen, Aizen had used to his zanpaktou to hypnotize all the Soul Reapers (except Kurosaki Ichigo) into thinking Hitsugaya had stabbed Aizen. Only when Kurosaki yelled out in horror was it revealed that Hitsugaya had stabbed Hinamori thanks to Aizen's zanpaktou.

Every time he thought back to that moment, he felt overwhelming rage at himself for not realizing he was fighting Hinamori. After all, Aizen was very powerful. Everyone knew that. So why, when it seemed he and the other Captains were just about to beat Aizen, was it not perfectly obvious that it wasn't Aizen that they were fighting. In the defense of the others, all they wanted was to defeat Aizen, so when it seemed like they were winning, they wouldn't think about his tricks. But what about Toushiro?

Was he not Hinamori's best friend since they were both very young kids? Hinamori was four years older than he was, so he knew her his entire life. How could he not have known? Hypnotism was powerful, but, as he'd learned, not blinding. He always thought there was something off about Aizen. However, he knew no one would believe him, so he'd never said anything. During Rukia's execution period, he even managed to convince himself that it was Ichimaru Gin who was evil, and not Aizen. In the end, as Rangiku had found out, that had not been the case. So why was Toushiro tricked so easily? Was he so filled with hatred that he was completely blind? Or was Aizen more powerful than he had thought?

Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Toushiro had hurt Hinamori, and he didn't know what to do about it. He knew he had to apologize, but he didn't know if that was enough. He could barely live with himself for hurting his best friend (and the girl he loved, though he would never admit that to anyone, not even himself). He didn't know if he could go on if Hinamori didn't forgive him.

Everyone knew Hinamori was the sweetest Soul Reaper in the Soul Society. She always put others before herself, protected everyone she could, and always forgave. But Toushiro wasn't sure if she'd be forgiving this time.

Toushiro was horrified to learn he and the other Captains had nearly killed Hinamori, but there was one thing that scared him more than the state Hinamori's body was in. The last words Hinamori had said to him before she passed out were, "Shiro…why?" And Toushiro couldn't take that.

After 30 days in Squad 12's care, Hinamori was allowed visitors. Rangiku went to go see her (and vent about Gin since of all the Soul Reapers, Hinamori was the only one who knew about Rangiku's history with Gin…not even Toushiro knew about that). Kira Izuru and Abarai Renji visited too-of course they did, they were Momo's best friends, besides Toushiro. Two of Hinamori's other close lieutenant friends, Ise Nanao and Hisagi Shuhei and members of Squad 5 whom Momo was close with also visited her. Toushiro wanted to visit. He really did. But he was worried she turn him away.

Now he knew he had to apologize. He'd told himself a week ago that he'd go apologize as soon as she was released and told Rangiku, Izuru, and Abarai to keep him posted on her condition. Even if Momo never forgave him, he knew he had to at least try to apologize. So he rushed to her house.

On the way, he nearly crashed into Kira and Abarai, who were walking together. "Good morning Hitsugaya Taicho," they said in unison.

"Abarai fukataicho, Kira fukataicho," Hitsugaya acknowledged.

"Where are you speeding off to?" Abarai asked.

Hitsugaya examined Renji's face to see if he was teasing. There was no smirk on his face, which meant he wasn't. That meant he and Izuru didn't know Hinamori had been released from Kurotsuchi's care. He should tell them, but then they'd go rushing off to Momo's house and he needed to be alone so he said nothing. He just flash stepped away.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

"Hitsugaya is going to see Momo," Renji said. "I guess we don't have _business_ to take care of. We don't have to tell him Momo's been released and we don't have to convince him to go see her."

"Renji, I can't believe you managed to keep a straight face when you asked Hitsugaya Taicho where he was going," laughed Izuru.

"I wanted to see what he would do if he thought we didn't know Momo was home. If he'd tell us or not. He didn't."

"Which means he really does want to see Momo," Izuru said.

"I told her she had no reason to worry. Hitsugaya still feels the same way about her," Renji said.

"Yeah, but what if he doesn't?" Izuru asked, concerned for his best friend. "I mean, what if Momo was right about how he feels? She seemed happy that he wasn't coming to see her."

"Because she thought he felt differently about her. But he doesn't," Renji said firmly. "Everything will be fine."

Izuru nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right," he agreed smiling, and the two went on their way. They had no business to take care of, so they decided to visit with Hisagi to tell him Momo had been released from Kurotsuchi's care, or, as they thought of it, Kurotsuchi's grasp.

The truth was, the two had just seen Momo and they knew a secret about her that would've made Hitsugaya rest a lot easier.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

Momo Hinamori was so happy to be home again. Mayuri Kurotsuchi had taken good care of her, but he'd always creeped her out and the Squad 12 barracks made her uneasy. Even Nemu fukataicho scared her. She thought for sure that one of them would cut her open for observation and pass it off as an accident to the Head Captain if he inquired.

Izuru and Renji already visited her, and Rangiku came by even before them, with Nanao. Her squad had given her a welcoming party. Everyone seemed happy she was better. Izuru and Renji left quickly, but promised they'd come back that afternoon, with Hisagi. The two had left because they said they had some _business _to take care of. They'd said business but they were identical smirks on their faces like the ones they wore just before they played on prank on Momo or one of their other classmates while the three were in the Soul Reaper Academy. Momo knew her two best friends well enough to know she should be suspicious of them, but decided to not let it bother her today.

Momo looked at the food she'd received that day. Both Rangiku and Izuru had brought her lunch that day and Momo knew eating Rangiku's strange foods would just put her back into hospitalization. To tell the truth, though she was normally very nice, Unohana Taicho kind of creeped Momo out as well and she didn't want to go to the Squad 4 barracks because of the effect Unohana Taicho had on her (and several of her friends-they all agreed that she was kind of creepy too). She grabbed what Izuru brought her and laid it out on the coffee table, ready to eat in front of the television and catch up on the episodes of some of her favorite shows that she missed while she was in the Squad 12 barracks when the doorbell rang.

"That can't be Izuru and Renji," Momo mused. They'd only left twenty minutes ago. Who else could be visiting? She hadn't gotten a single visit from her very best friend (and the boy she loved), Hitsugaya Toushiro, but she didn't expect him to come. She was in love with him. She recently realized she'd always been in love with him.

When she was locked up in a cell for fighting Izuru, Rangiku san had come to her and they'd talked. Rangiku said she'd always be Momo's friend, not matter what, so why shouldn't they talk. So they did. And Rangiku got her to admit that she was in love with her childhood best friend, Toushiro Hitsugaya. Before she went to the fake Karakura Town to help the Soul Reapers beat Captain Aizen and the Arrancars, she'd resolved that if she and Shiro both made it out of the battle alive, she'd tell him she loved him when they returned home. Now, that was no longer an option.

Momo Hinamori was convinced that Shiro hated her and she knew he wouldn't come to see her. So when she opened the door and saw him standing outside her door, she nearly had a heart attack.

She gasped. "Eh? Sh-shiro-chan?"

"Hinamori," Toushiro. "Er, I mean, Hinamori fukataicho. Hi. How are you?"

Hinamori shook her head, unable to say anything. What was he doing here? Did he come just to yell at her? Sure Shiro had every right to yell at her, but she never thought he'd come just to yell at her. He was too decent of a guy for that. And did he just call her fukataicho? Addressing her formally and coming over when he clearly hated her? He must really be mad at her!

"Hinamori san? Are you alright? How are you feeling?" Toushiro asked, feeling ridiculously formal and stupid. Why was he calling her fukataicho? Why did he add the title 'san' after he last name? Sure she was a few years older than him, but they had never used formalities with each other. Even thought he'd always insisted she call him 'Hitsugaya Taicho,' the truth was, he'd hate it if she stopped calling him 'Shiro-chan.'

'Idiot! He's waiting for you to say something Hina,' Momo told herself, using a little nickname Izuru and Renji had made up for her back when they were in the Soul Reaper Academy. They would use it after they pranked her in order to beg for her forgiveness. The nickname almost always melted her anger away. 'Just ask what he's doing here. Maybe he'll forgive you. Maybe he already has and that's why he's here!'

"Hinamori san?" Hitsugaya asked uncertainly.

Again with the formalities! 'Don't kid yourself. He hates you. He's just such a good guy that he's making sure you're okay before he lets you know how he feels about you. But you should still ask him what he's doing here!'

She opened her mouth, but still not words would come out. She couldn't do this. Tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill over. Toushiro noticed and immediately was concerned, but Momo didn't notice his worried expression. She couldn't do this. She couldn't face him. She did the only thing she could think of to do. The one thing that would break her beloved Hitsugaya's heart, although she didn't know that.

She slammed the door in his face.

**A/N: Whew! And there you have it. This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but it was becoming too long for me to write and for you guys to read, so I deicded to make it a two-shot. It might even go to three chapters. I just don't want to put in too much effort into this when I have lots of other work to do unless I know people actually want to read it. So if you want me to continue, please hit the review button right below. You don't even have to log in or anything. It doesn't take too much effort. Please let me know what you think!**

_-IndusLotas2001_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay, people like my story! I got seven reviews, six **_**other**_** people adding my story to their alerts and three adding it to their favorites, even if they didn't review. It makes me happy! I know it's been a while and I'm so sorry it took so damn long, but I've had so much work to do for school and I'm too much of a goody-goody to blow it off. I'm such a Bleach dork that I've writing HinamorixHitsugaya all over my notes when I start day dreaming (in bubble letters, no less). Anyway, I am dedicated. **

**One thing though…I know Soul Reapers age really slowly, but they do age, right? So that means they have birthdays, right? I hope so, cuz I put in a bit about birthdays in here and I don't want anyone to crucify if Soul Reapers don't actually have birthdays and I missed the episode where that was mentioned (I watched the anime and have yet to read the manga).**

**Finally, I'd like to tell you about shout outs. I got this idea form my friend on . I like replying to reviews, but since some people don't sign in, I can't reply to them. So, I'm going to do shout outs to anyone who doesn't sign in, but leaves me a review. For this story so far, that's four people:**

_XD42: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it. Hope you like this chapter just as much as the last._

_Mekayla: Thank you so much, your review completely brightened up the horrible day I was having when I got it. And I loved how you gushed about my story; you must've really liked it. I'm glad. I'm a HUGE HitsuHina fan too. Here's the next chapter._

_L: Hey, I was wondering why you left as review as 'L.' Did you get that from Death Note or is that just something you do? Anyway, your review was absolutely wonderful! I love when people tell me to continue, but your review was awesome because you told me what you liked about it. Also, you commented on my writing. I like knowing what people like about the content, but as a writer, knowing if people like my writing style and knowing if they think my stories are well written is also extremely important to me, so thanks for that. And you're right, lots of people do read without reviewing, including me on other people's stories. Hope you like this chapter too!_

_k: I had another reviewer who called him/herself 'k' before. Did you read another one of my stories? Thanks for your review, it brightened up my day a little and inspired me to finish the next chapter today. Hope you find this chapter pleasing and to your liking._

**Also, my very first reviewer, BabyG'3710 seems to have disabled PMing so I couldn't reply to him/her, so here's your shout out:**

_BabyG'3710: Thanks for the review. Here's chapter two. Now you can know what happens next! Thanks for being my first reviewer. The first review always means a lot. Hope you enjoy this chapter! _

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or my OC, Katsuya Mimura. I mean, seriously, if I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing this fanfic. Instead, I would rewatching the episode I made in which Hinamori and Hitsugaya get together.

**Now without further ado, here's chapter two. Enjoy!**

Hitsugaya made his way back to his quarters looking very annoyed. This look was Toushiro's way of showing people he wasn't in a good mood and it would be wise to let him pass by without saying anything. Even Renji, who was making his way to the late Ichimaru Taicho's quarters with Izuru and Shuhei, with his big mouth and tendency to not notice what's going on around him knew enough to not say anything to Toushiro as he passed by him.

Hitsugaya tried to look normal as he walked into his office. The last thing he needed was for Rangiku, who was probably loaded up on sake by now, to notice his annoyed look and pester him about it.

Toushiro walked into his office and couldn't believe his eyes. Matsumoto didn't even look up. She was sitting on the couch and writing.

"Rangiku, what're you doing?" Toushiro asked in a suspicious tone.

"Paperwork of course. Isn't that what you told me to do Taicho?" Rangiku replied in an innocent voice.

Toushiro walked over to the couch and saw, to his immense surprise, that Matsumoto _was_ in fact doing her paperwork.

Looking at the table, he saw one pile of paperwork was already on the floor. "Matsumoto, that was the biggest pile. How did you finish so quickly? I can't even do that!"

Rangiku shrugged. "I was in a good mood, so I got it done."

"You were in a good enough mood to concentrate?" Toushiro asked. "I wish you would apply yourself this way all the time. But I guess I can't expect it all the time, right?"

"I figured I'd get rewarded if I did it all."

"Rewarded with what exactly Rangiku?" Toushiro asked, suspicious again.

Rangiku gave him a devilish smile. "Good news."

Now Toushiro confused so he just quietly sat at his desk and resumed his own paper work.

Rangiku frowned after him. She knew her captain was cold and emotionless sometimes and barely ever cracked a smile, but she thought this news would be too big for even Toushiro to hide. Did she have to prompt it out of him? Maybe she'd wait for him to tell her. Maybe he would, in five minutes or so.

Right…Rangiku, wait? That would work for all of two seconds.

"So Taicho," Rangiku said literally three seconds later, unable to wait any longer. "What happened with Hinamori fukataicho?"

Toushiro glanced up sharply. "Why do you ask?"

Rangiku shrugged. "I'm just curious."

Toushiro gave her one of his frostiest glares. "Matsumoto, don't ask about things that are none of your business. And stop being so lazy! Do your paper work!"

Rangiku didn't bother to tell him that she'd done nothing but paperwork for the past forty minutes. Something was wrong. He was back awfully fast. Maybe he and Hinamori didn't talk.

'Oh Hinamori, what happened?' Rangiku wondered silently. She had to go see what was going on. Abruptly, she got up.

"Matsumoto, what're you doing?" Hitsugaya asked angrily.

Rangiku gave him a smile. "I'm going to take a little break now Captain," she said cheerfully.

"No you will _not_. Your breaks always last forever."

"But Captain, I've worked so hard! Besides, it's only going to be a little break."

"You don't know the meaning of a little break," Toushiro growled.

Rangiku ignored him. "See you later Taicho," she called cheerfully.

"Rangiku Matsumoto, don't you dare-"

BANG! Toushiro was interrupted by the slamming of the door. He sighed. Rangiku was a lost cause now anyway. As was Hinamori. And his love life.

Love life? What was he thinking? He never had a love life. He didn't love anyone.

Toushiro sighed and looked at the wall behind him. It was decorated with pictures. He'd put the one of him and Momo up there, with his grandmother. There was also one of just his grandmother and one of just him and Momo. The photos of his division were put up there by Rangiku. Rangiku had also put up a few other pictures. There was one of Toushiro's special team that he'd taken to the World of the Living. The picture was of Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, and Toushiro. Rukia was also in the picture. Toushiro looked annoyed at the picture.

There were a few of Kurosaki and his friends, including Rukia and Renji. There was one of Rangiku and Toushiro. There was one at Toushiro's last birthday. The picture included Renji, Izuru, Shuhei, and Isane Fukataicho from the fourth division. Toushiro was off to side, his arms crossed, his eyes closed. Momo was right next to him, her usual bright smile on her face, chattering excitedly. Momo had planned the party and though he didn't look happy in the picture, he was so happy she did. Every time Momo did something nice for him, he got in an unusually good mood and felt special. No one else could do that.

Toushiro sighed as he looked at the next picture. As a thank you to Momo, he'd planned her birthday party. It turned out to be a huge success. Momo had looked so pretty that day and she'd kissed him on the cheek to thank him. The picture however, was of Renji and Izuru, with Momo in the middle. He and Momo were best friends, but she always spent so much time with Abarai and Kira. He knew she was close to them both, since they _did_ go to school together, but he couldn't help but feel insanely jealous. Especially of Kira. It was suspected by everyone who knew him that he had a crush on Hinamori, even if those people didn't know Hinamori well.

Toushiro sighed again. He was lying to himself. He knew he was lying to himself. He romantically liked his childhood best friend, Momo Hinamori. And he wanted to tell her. But he couldn't because she refused to talk to him. He knew he deserved Hinamori's wrath, but he wished he still had the chance to apologize to her. Just one chance would mean everything in the world to him.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

It took Rangiku a while to get to Hinamori's house, even though she was using flash step. Getting from Rangiku's house or Toushiro's house to Momo's was a quick little task. Getting from the Tenth Division's Barracks to Momo's house was another thing. The Tenth Division's barracks were on one side of the Seireitei and Momo's house, which was near the Fifth Squad's barracks (Toushiro and Rangiku were probably the only ranked Soul Reapers whose houses weren't near their squad's barracks), was on the other side.

Momo had cried a little after Toushiro left. He hated her and she couldn't do a thing about it. How could she possibly make up for what she'd said to him? After she finally stopped crying, she'd finished lunch. She was frustrated. The best way for her to take her mind off Toushiro was to train, but since the whole Nozumi incident, the Seireitei was still under repairs. And the only place for Momo to train was in Squad Five's training room.

Momo might've been released from Squad 12's care, but she wasn't fully better. She was okay, but not better. She couldn't do kido the way she could. And she shouldn't fight unless she absolutely had to. According to Mayuri, she wouldn't be back to her normal caliber for a few months now. So no one in Squad 5 would let her train. And since a few members would be in the training room, she couldn't practice. As acting captain, she needed all her strength in case another threat appeared. No one would let her strain herself, least of all Third Seat Mimura Katsuya, now the Fifth Squad's acting vice-captain.

So what could she do to get her mind off Toushiro? Momo looked around and saw a photo album. Her eyes lit up as she got it out. She loved looking at old pictures. And she knew for a fact this one didn't have any pictures of Toushiro. This green album was of Momo's first two years at the Soul Reaper Academy. Toushiro hadn't come to the academy until Momo's third year. She opened up the album and started to reminisce. She'd flipped through a quarter of the album when she heard knocking at her door.

"It's open," she called, not even considering the possibility that Toushiro could be at the door. Even if the thought had crossed her mind, it wouldn't have mattered. It was Rangiku at the door.

"Hey Momo, what're you doing?" Rangiku asked, plopping down on the couch next to her.

"Hi Rangiku-san," Momo said brightly. She flipped the page. "I'm just-nothing!" she cried suddenly, snapping the album shut fearfully.

"Momo? What's wrong?" Rangiku asked.

"Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?"

"What were you looking at?" Rangiku asked suspiciously.

"Nothing that would interest you," Momo giggled nervously.

"Momo, do you remember Inoue Orihime?"

Momo nodded. Kurosaki and all his friends from the World of the Living had come to see her while she was in the hospital. Even though they hadn't known each other well before, they were now friends. Momo became especially good friends in Ichigo he was sweet when he wanted to be), and Orihime (she was silly and airheaded but sweet and fun). She remembered Inoue but she wondered why Rangiku was bringing her up.

"What did you say about her when you met her?"

Momo thought back. "I said she was the sweetest girl ever, and the worst liar in the world."

"You're a lot like her Momo," Rangiku said. "You're the sweetest girl ever and the worst liar in the Soul Society. What were you looking at?" Without waiting for the answer she knew she would never get, Rangiku grabbed the album from Momo's hands. She's spied a picture of herself and Momo and recognized the album as one of Momo's Soul Reaper Academy scrapbooks. The first one. There was only one picture of the two of them together in this album.

Rangiku quickly flipped to the same page and saw why Momo had closed the book. "Oh," she said.

It was a picture of Rangiku and Gin. Gin was the fifth squad's fukataicho under Aizen and Rangiku was in her final year of the academy. Gin had come to the academy to visit her.

Since Rangiku was good friends with Hisagi, and Hisagi was friends with Momo, Renji, and Kira, the three knew Rangiku and were there when Gin came to visit. Momo, being the only girl in the group, noticed right away the romantic connection between Rangiku and Gin and snapped the picture for her album that was almost complete at that point.

"So this is what you didn't want me to look at," Rangiku realized.

Momo nodded, looking at her lap.

Rangiku abruptly shut the album, but smiled. "Momo, it's alright. It's not something you have to hide."

"But…it makes you sad," Momo said, her voice small.

Rangiku nodded. "Yeah, it makes me sad, but only because he's gone. It makes me feel good to see the old Gin and to finally see that he never changed at all. So seeing old pictures of us together makes me happy as well."

Momo looked up. "I guess," she shrugged.

Momo looked so sad just because she brought Gin up. She was so sweet!

"Let's talk Momo," Rangiku said.

"About what?" Momo asked.

"Anything. Parties, trips, Toushiro."

"Toushiro?" Momo asked.

"Yeah. Toushiro, your crush on him, whatever," Rangiku said casually.

"Rangiku!" Momo cried.

"What? You already told me you like him. You can't take it back!" Rangiku pouted.

Momo rolled her eyes at her friend's pout. "Rangiku, why do you want to talk about that?"

"Cuz because of you, I had to do paperwork for nothing!" Rangiku whined.

"I…what?" Momo asked, now more confused than ever.

"My captain came to see you and you were supposed to get together and then he'd tell me that you were together. I did paperwork in the hopes that I'd be rewarded with that good news!" Rangiku said, still whining.

"Wait, wait, wait…you did _paperwork_?" Momo asked incredulously.

Now Rangiku glared at her friend. "Why does everyone say it like that? It's not unheard of me to do paperwork!"

"Yes it is," Momo said. "What's not unheard of is you blowing off your paperwork and instead having a sake party with Shuhei, Renji and Izuru."

Rangiku smiled and winked. "Well, who says the sake doesn't help me with my paperwork?"

"I do, considering the last time you and the guys had a sake party, you thought Toushiro was Ichigo's friend Chad," Momo replied.

Rangiku blushed. "Okay, so I was a little confused."

"A little? That was the same day you thought Kuchki Taicho was Shiro and teased him until Madarame realized what you were doing and saved you."

"Two mistakes, so what?"

"On the same day, you also told Yumichika he was ugly because you thought he was Omeada fukataicho, you thought I was Yachiru and told me I was getting to be tall, and told Isane fukataicho she was a big bully and a brute because you thought she was Zaraki Taicho," Momo added.

"Okay, enough! That's now what we're talking about!" Rangiku snapped. "What happened between you and my captain?"

Momo sighed. "Uh, I…" Momo stopped, wondering what she was supposed to say. Rangiku was pretty protective of Shiro. "I…slammed the door in his face."

"You did _what_? Why?"

"Because…I love him too much to let him tell me he hates me."

Rangiku sighed. "Momo, he doesn't hate you! You keep saying that. Why do you think that? Don't you think you should tell me? You need to tell _someone_."

"I told Renji and Izuru," Momo said.

"Okay, let me rephrase. You need to tell a _girl_," Rangiku corrected.

Momo sighed. "During the big battle with Aizen Taicho, when Shiro stabbed me, I…I made it seem as if Shiro hurt me on purpose. But he was under hypnosis. I should've known he'd never do something like that on purpose."

"You were hurt and confused. No one blames you."

"That's not all though," Momo said. "I put him through so much during this whole thing with Aizen Taicho, from the time he staged his death until Kurosaki kun defeated him. And he must hate me for everything I did to him."

"Momo, stop! He doesn't hate you. He loves you. He always has, he always will. He came here today because he wanted to tell you that."

"What?"

"Really! Who is Captain Hitsugaya's best friend?"

"Uh…" Momo couldn't think of an answer. "Um…me?"

"Besides you," Rangiku said.

"Um, besides me?" Who was Toushiro friends with?

"I'll give you hint. It's a boy."

"Not a big enough hint."

"An orange haired boy."

"Kanabara Shinji?" Momo guessed, thinking of Squad Ten's fifth seat.

"An orange haired boy from the World of the Living," Rangiku clarified.

"Kurosaki Ichigo?" Momo asked.

Rangiku nodded. "I heard him talking to Ichigo recently."

"About what?"

"Well, the conversation started about the whole Nozumi thing I told you about," Rangiku said. "Ichigo decided to come to the Soul Society because he was saying Kon was annoying him and he needed to take a breather."

"Kon? Is that the mod soul stuck in a stuffed lion doll?" Momo asked.

Rangiku nodded. "He was in love with Nozumi and he kept saying how he almost lost Nozumi and he almost wasn't able to say good bye."

"That's sweet. Ichigo should put up with it," Momo protested.

"Well, that's not the part that annoyed him. The little mod soul said the whole experience gave him some sort of revelation. Kon said that he learned that people should never hold in their feelings about others because you never know when you're going to lose them."

"Sounds reasonable," Momo shrugged.

Rangiku nodded. "But then, Kon started telling Ichigo he should tell Rukia he loves her."

Momo started laughing. She saw the romantic tension between Kurosaki and Kuchki Taicho's little sister. She and Rukia had always gotten along well and she'd never seen Rukia act the way she acted with Ichigo. There was definitely something there between them.

"That's what annoyed Kurosaki kun, right?" Momo asked.

"Yeah," Rangiku confirmed. "Then, Ichigo started teasing Hitsugaya Taicho about you."

"Me?" Momo started to blush.

Rangiku nodded. "He started saying that Kon was definitely onto something. He said it was obvious my Captain was in love with you and he almost lost you so he should tell you how he really feels about you."

Momo started blushing violently, her whole face going red.

"And even though he'd never say it again, he admitted he did like you and wanted to tell you. He came to see you today to tell you and he was upset when he came back to his office because he thought you hated him. In fact, he thought you hated him even before."

"Why did he think that? And he doesn't like me Rangiku. He never even came to see me when I was in Kurotsuchi Taicho's care."

"That's because he thought you hated him. That's why he never came to see you. He thought you wouldn't want to. I don't know why he thinks that, but he does."

"I…I don't believe you Rangiku!" Momo said.

"Would I make up such a wild story?" Rangiku asked, hurt.

"Um, yes!"

"Why would say that?" Rangiku asked outraged.

"Six words. Izuru Kira and the love story."

"Crap," Rangiku muttered, blanching.

When Rangiku was in her last year of the academy, before she knew Toushiro, she noticed Kira seemed to have a huge crush on Hinamori so she decided to set them up. She told Kira this wild story about how Hinamori had confessed to her that she had a crush on Kira and she wanted him to kiss her more than anything in the world. Rangiku thought Izuru was cute and pretty good catch, especially for someone like Hinamori. She hoped that if Kira kissed Hinamori, Hinamori would feel sparks.

Rangiku's plan backfired big time. Kira took her advice and kissed Hinamori during the Soul Reaper Academy's Valentine's Day Celebration. Hinamori was so shocked that she ran away. She thought she and Kira were good friends and she didn't want to tell him that she liked someone else (Toushiro) so she didn't speak to him for a month. Kira was embarrassed and was sure Hinamori hated him so he avoided her for a month as well. Renji knew both sides of the story but couldn't figure out how to get his two best friends to work the whole thing out so all three of them could hang out together again.

It was Shuhei that realized Rangiku had something to do with this. He knew her very well, and he also knew Kira well enough to know that he was way too shy to do anything like kiss a girl he really liked without encouragement from a strong personality who wouldn't take no for an answer. The only two people who had that personality and were also close to him were Rangiku and Renji. Renji was way too dense to realize Kira liked Hinamori, so it must've been Rangiku. He and Renji yelled at her and made her fix the whole thing. Eventually, Hinamori and Kira's friendship went back to normal and the two of them and Renji were inseparable again, but that was proof that Rangiku liked to make things up when it came to matchmaking, which she was very bad at. It was a wonder that Izuru still went to her for advice.

"Okay, don't believe me," Rangiku said. "I can understand why you wouldn't. Look, all I'm saying is, next time he comes over to try and talk to you, could you please give him a chance and not turn him away again? Please?"

Rangiku was saying please? She never said please to Momo before. She never wanted Momo to do a big favor for her and letting Toushiro speak was a huge favor because Momo didn't want to hear him yell. Momo sighed. "Okay Rangiku. If he comes back, I'll hear him out."

"Great!" Rangiku cried happily. "And don't worry Momo, he'll come back."

"That's what worries me," Momo replied under her breath.

Rangiku heard her but didn't say anything. She had Momo's word and that satisfied her. Momo would keep her promise.

"I'll see you late Momo," Rangiku said.

"Bye Rangiku san," Momo replied and Rangiku flash stepped away, back to Hitsugaya's quarters.

She'd convinced Momo to give Hitsugaya a chance. Now all she had to do was convince Hitsugaya to go back there. That wasn't going to be easy at all.

**A/N: Yay, finally done with that! So this chapter was kind of boring. I just put in some humor and made up memories. It was really more of a filler. Hope you liked my attempted humor. This is not a two shot, it will have one more chapter. The last chapter will probably be short. It will be about Rangiku convincing Toushiro to go talk to Momo again, and then the conclusion of the story.**

**The good news is, the chapter is already done! I've finished writing the story. I wanted to put this all together to make up for the long wait, but I didn't want to make your eyes bleed. I don't think this chapter will seem too long on the website, but it's a lot of pages on word. Anyway, review please and I can get the next chapter up right away!**

**-IndusLotas2001 **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Final chapter! Hooray! Now I can start my next story! So this is the conclusion of To Forgive and Never Forget. I don't think I did a very good job, but you guys can tell me what you think in your reviews. Now before I forget, here are my shout outs!**

_Hitsuhinafan: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked it. Here's the next chapter. I hope it's to your liking. I am writing a HitsuHina one-shot to be published a few days after this chapter is up, so look out for that. _

_K: Thanks for the compliment. I realize the humor was a little over done. Humor was never my strong point, but I tried to think of things Rangiku would do or say. Interesting you ask about my other stories. I have three ideas right now. My next story is going to be a HitsuHina oneshot in which Hinamori and Hitsugaya go on a Hollow fighting mission together and Hinamori needs to protect Hitsugaya for once. The one after that is a multi chaptered story called Melted Secrets in which Hinamori's dark past (a past I make up) comes back to haunt her and she runs from it. Who saves her from the darkness? Toushiro of course! And my final idea is one of those hundred themes challenges, but with a little twist, so look out for those. Hope you enjoy!_

**Well, those are my un logged in reviewers. I just want to finish up with a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed or favorite me, everyone who added me to their alerts, and everyone who read, even if they didn't review or favorite me, etc. Thank you everyone and hope you enjoy the conclusion! Look out for my other Bleach fics! Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I owned Bleach, with my current mind set, I'd have several love triangle episodes between Renji, Rukia, and Ichigo.

Rangiku sighed as she stepped into her captain's office. He was going to be mad. Normally, Rangiku would just brush it off when he yelled at her. But this time, she needed him to agree to talk to her. If he was angry enough, he wouldn't talk to her and Rangiku couldn't convince him to go back to Hinamori's house.

"Taicho! Hiiiiiiii!" Rangiku sang out cheerily. She looked around the room and was surprised to see her captain wasn't in the room. That was strange. There was an unusually large amount of paperwork due today, and Rangiku could see it wasn't finished. Where would he go?

Rangiku sighed. She hated moving around. She was so lazy! Her Taicho better thank her for this later. She flash stepped around the Seireitei, trying to pick up his spiritual pressure. As she neared his house, she felt it, and two others' as well. Analyzing it, she realized Ichigo and Rukia were with her captain.

A grin spread across Rangiku's face. She was a sucker for gossip. Masking her spiritual pressure, she pressed herself on the side of the house, listening to her captain talk to Kuchki and Kurosaki. The three of them were on the roof.

"Hey Toushiro, how's it going?" Ichigo asked, making it clear to Rangiku that he and Rukia had just arrived in the Soul Society.

"Ichigo, if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times…it's Hitsugaya Taicho."

"Right. Sure," Ichigo replied and Rukia let out a small giggle.

Rangiku could imagine her taicho's annoyed look as he said, "Kurosaki, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Renji told us Hinamori san was released from Kurotsuchi Taicho's care today. We wanted to see her," Rukia said.

"Oh," was all Hitsugaya said.

"So how is she?" Ichigo asked.

"I suppose she's doing alright since she's been released," Hitsugaya said, shrugging.

"You suppose?" Rukia asked.

"You mean you haven't gone to see her yet?" Ichigo asked. "But I thought you were gonna tell her-"

"Shut up Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said. Rangiku guessed Ichigo was going to stupidly reveal Hitsugaya's secret, which in actuality wasn't much of a secret.

Rangiku could almost see Ichigo rolling his eyes. "C'mon Toushiro, Rukia knows," he said.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho and I will not correct you again!"

"Good," Ichigo replied. "Did you hear that Rukia? Toushiro said he won't correct me again, which means I can call him Toushiro without him saying, 'it's Hitsugaya Taicho,' every five seconds."

Now Rukia laughed out loud and Rangiku had to stifle her laughter. She always did like Ichigo, and not just because he was cute. As much as he annoyed Toushiro, as red with anger as Toushiro's face was right at this moment, Ichigo was still a good friend for Toushiro to have, mainly because he didn't take the usual 'don't talk to the cold one' attitude that most people did when they met Toushiro. Besides Momo and Rangiku, very few people were able to get along with Toushiro. Ichigo was one.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, will you just finish up your business and get out?" Toushiro growled.

"I'd hardly call visiting a friend business," Rukia spoke up.

Toushiro ignored the comment and started to flash step away. "Wait Toushiro!" Ichigo called. "You didn't tell her did you?"

Toushiro didn't answer. "I'd get on that if I were you," Rukia said, and Rangiku could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Told you Rukia already knows," Ichigo said. "So does everyone else."

"I've wasted enough time with you Kurosaki," was all Toushiro said before leaving. Rangiku, still concealing her spiritual pressure, followed after him.

"You think he'll ever tell her?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

"Maybe if you told him you told me," Rukia replied.

Ichigo smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Yeah…Kon had a point.

"Matsumoto, maybe if you weren't so lazy all the time, you could conceal your spiritual pressure better," Toushiro said to his lieutenant. "Unless you _wanted_ me to know you were following me." He landed on the rooftop of Madarame's house. Rangiku joined him.

"Taicho," she pouted. "You mean you knew the whole time?"

"I'm not even going to grace that with an answer. Mind telling me what you're doing? You have mountains of paperwork to get done."

"Well so do you Captain. But here you are, out on a stroll. I'm just doing the same thing."

"If I remember correctly Rangiku, which I do, you left over an hour ago. Your presence in my office is long overdue."

"Aww, Taicho, you're no fun," Rangiku said, pouting even more.

"My job is not to be fun. It is to make sure you get your job done. In fact Rangiku, I'm tired to getting yelled at by Yamamoto Taicho because you can't seem to complete what you're supposed to do. Finish your work!"

"Okay Taicho, how about we make a deal? I'll go back to your office and finish all my paperwork and I won't stop until I'm completely done if –"

"Matsumoto, I will not indulge you by taking your deals," Toushiro said, but to no avail. He often took deals Rangiku offered so that she'd do her paperwork.

"…if you go talk to Hinamori fukataicho again."

Toushiro glanced up sharply and glared at his vice captain. "MATSUMOTO…!" he yelled and could not think of anything more to say.

Rangiku sighed. She should've known this wouldn't be easy.

"Captain, can I tell you something?" she asked, sitting down. "Something that you promise not to repeat to anyone? Except Momo, because she already knows, but not to anyone else. Can I have your word?"

Toushiro was appalled. Was Matsumoto being…_serious_? He sat down next to her and couldn't see anything but sadness and pain in her eyes.

"You have my word," he said, wanting nothing more than to help her.

"When I was young, my best friend ever was…Ichimaru Gin," Rangiku started.

Toushiro nodded. As far as anyone knew, Matsumoto and Ichimaru didn't know too much about each other, but Toushiro noticed Rangiku was upset anytime anyone mentioned Ichimaru's treachery. He figured there was more to their story.

"He found me passed out from hunger and offered me food. It was strange. I thought I wasn't supposed get hungry. I mean, I was dead! But Gin told me I was special. That I had a lot of spiritual pressure, which meant I would get hungry and grow as if I were alive, just at a much slower rate than normal people."

Toushiro nodded again.

Rangiku sighed. "Back then, I was such a crybaby and so weak. Gin…he took care of me. He was older than me by less than two years, but he was so nice all the time and he made me a promise. He promised me he'd always protect me. And of course I believed him. With good reason, as it turns out. Everything he did, he did to protect me."

Now Toushiro noticed tears in Rangiku's eyes.

"I miss him so much. But here's the thing…I was in love with Gin. I think you probably figured that out by now. I've only told Hinamori. Lying there on a bed in the 12th Squad's barracks…she was a pretty good listener," Rangiku joked lightly. "But…Gin loved me too. At least, I'm pretty sure he did. I never told him how I felt about him, although he might've guessed. He never told me either. And now he's dead. Now it's too late."

"I'm sorry Rangiku," Toushiro said. "I can't imagine how hard that must be for you."

"Hard it must be for…no! That's not the point of this story at all!" Rangiku cried. "The point is, you almost lost Hinamori in the battle with Aizen."

Toushiro winced.

"And you won't tell her you love her!"

"Tell her what?"

"Stop pretending Captain! I heard you talking to Ichigo! You love her and you won't tell her! I missed my chance. You can't miss yours!"

"Rangiku, I…" Toushiro couldn't think of anything else to say. What else was there to say? Rangiku hit the nail on the head and he was too tired to deny it any longer.

Toushiro sighed. "I love her, okay? I do. But I can't tell her."

"You have to!" Rangiku wailed.

"She hates me," Toushiro said.

Rangiku almost fell off the roof.

"What? Captain, why would you say something like that?"

"It's true. I stabbed her!"

Rangiku felt like laughing at the how similar the two's thoughts were. She sighed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do or how wrong you are. But I want you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"I want you to go see Hinamori, just one more time. Do that for me and if she still refuses to speak to you, then I won't ever bother you about it again. Please, just do this for me. Please don't make my mistake."

Toushiro was going to refuse, but he made the mistake of looking up and caught the pleading, hopeful look in Rangiku's ocean blue eyes. It was really sweet and touching and Toushiro found himself agreeing to Matsumoto's request.

"Promise me Taicho. Give me your word you will go see her today."

"I promise," Toushiro said before he could stop himself.

Rangiku smiled. "Thank you. I'm glad. I promise you that you're not just doing me a favor."

"One thing Rangiku. I admitted to Ichigo I liked Hinamori. I never said love. How did you know?"

Rangiku smiled. "I heard you that day Captain, when you were training with your bankai, wanting to get stronger to protect Hinamori. You want to protect her for the same reason Gin wanted to protect me. You love her. I know it.

Momo was very surprised when she heard the bell ring later. Izuru, Renji, and Shuhei left a while ago and she wasn't expecting anyone else. She promised Rangiku she'd see Toushiro mostly because she didn't expect him to come back. Toushiro was at her door and gave her the second almost heart attack of the day.

"Shiro-chan!" she squealed. She sighed. She promised. "I mean…Hitsugaya Taicho. Come in."

'Crap, did I just call him Hitsugaya Taicho? From the look on his face, he noticed. Oh well. It's not like I have a right to call him Shiro-chan anymore,' Momo thought. He never liked the nickname she gave him, but she technically had a right to call him Shiro-chan. Now she didn't.

Toushiro came in and followed Momo to her living room. She took a seat on the couch and he stood there awkwardly. What was he doing? Wasn't he going to yell? Why couldn't he do it already?

"Shi-uh Hitsugaya Taicho?" Momo asked softly, catching herself. "I already know you hate me, but if you really want to yell at me, you can."

Toushiro looked up at her sharply and gave her a look of pure confusion. "Momo, I don't hate you. I never could!" he cried.

He didn't hate her? Then what was he here for?

Toushiro rang Momo's doorbell and waited for her to open the door.

She did and shocked him by saying, in a high pitched voice, "Shiro-chan!"

But that wasn't the shock. The shock was what she said afterwards:

"I mean…Hitsugaya Taicho. Come in."

'Crap, had she just called him Hitsugaya Taicho? Well, it's not like she'd call him Shiro-chan anymore. She hated him for sure if she called him Hitsugaya Taicho. He sighed as he followed her to her living room. She sat on the couch and he stood there awkwardly, not knowing how to start.

"Shi-uh Hitsugaya Taicho?" Momo asked softly. She called him Hitsugaya Taicho again? He really hated that! She'd never called him Hitsugaya-kun or Toushiro or anything remotely formal. Hitsugaya Taicho was the worst! "I already know you hate me, but if you really want to yell at me, you can."

Toushiro looked up at her sharply and gave her a look of pure confusion. _What_? "Momo, I don't hate you. I never could!" he cried. What in the world had made her think he hated her?

Momo looked up at him, her expression a mix of hope, relief, and confusion.

"But then…why…Shiro-chan…"

Toushiro breathed a huge sigh of relief. There is was. Shiro-chan. So was she over the whole 'Hitsugaya-Taicho' thing?

"I mean, Shiro-chan…" Hinamori had no idea how to form the words. Hitsugaya had no idea what she was trying to say, but he didn't waste time trying to figure it out. He didn't waste time at all. He needed to do this before he lost his nerve.

"Hinamori!" he blurted, then squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance. That was way too formal. And this was Momo. Momo whom he'd known for all his life. It should be okay this time. He took a deep breath and started over. "Momo…"

Hinamori looked at him in surprise. Toushiro hadn't called her Momo since he started the Soul Reaper Academy. In fact, the day he told her he got accepted was the last day he'd ever called her Bed-Wetter Momo, or just plain Momo, or anything besides Hinamori.

"Momo, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"S-sorry?" Momo asked, astonished. What in the world was he apologizing for?

Hitsugaya nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry. I should've known that it wasn't Aizen I was fighting. I should've realized it was too easy. Or, I should've noticed it was you because you're my best friend, or-"

"Oh Shiro-chan," Momo whispered. He was rambling on, apologizing more and more. She had to stop him. How? Maybe if she called him something besides Shiro-chan?

"Toushiro!" she said loudly, standing.

Hitsugaya looked up in surprise. Toushiro? That was new. Momo always called him Shiro-chan and he always told her to call him Hitsugaya- Taicho, but Toushiro was never part of the equation.

"Stop," she said, he voice soft and gentle. "There's no way you could've known. He had you under hypnosis."

"I still should've known!" Hitsugaya yelled angrily, fire in his eyes.

Momo eyes widened. She gasped softly and took a step back, startled.

Hitsugaya sighed and his eyes softened. He also softened his tone and said, "I'm sorry. I'm just…unbelievably angry… at myself though, not at you! I know Aizen had me under hypnosis, but we're best friends. I should've known. I should've realized it was you! And I'm just so sorry for hurting you Momo."

"Shiro-chan, please don't apologize," Momo said. "I'm not mad at you."

Toshiro looked up, shocked. "You're…not?"

"No! If anything, you should be angry with me!"

"Me? Angry with you? Why do you think that Momo?"

"Well because…" Momo looked at the ground, ashamed. "Aizen Taicho…"

Hitsugaya winced. After all of this, how she could she _still _call him Aizen _Taicho_?

"Aizen Taicho had you under hypnosis, so that's why you attacked me. It wasn't your fault. And then I…I…I asked why would do such a thing."

"Shiro…why?" That's what Hinamori had said. She was worried about it too?

"And I couldn't believe I would say something like that."

"It wasn't a big deal Momo," Toushiro said, even though it was a big deal to him.

"It is though Shiro-chan," Momo replied. "By saying that to you, I was accusing you of attacking me. I was asking you why you would attack me, when in reality, it wasn't like you did it on purpose. And maybe you should've even attacked me."

"Hinamori!" Toushiro yelled. "How can you say that?"

"It was partly my fault Shiro-chan!" Momo cried. "I trusted Aizen Tai…uh, I trusted Aizen and he betrayed us all."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. Had she left the Taicho out of Aizen's name? Amazing!

"I did so many horrible things to the Soul Society. I tried to fight Izuru. Izuru! My best friend who would never hurt a fly unless he had to. I broke out of the cell I was put in, which is against the law. I asked you to save Aizen, believing in him until the very end. I suspected and hated Ichimaru Taicho with my entire being, only to find out he was the good guy all this time. And worst of all…the worst thing I could've done…" Momo started to cry. "I tried to kill you Toushiro. How can you ever forgive me after that?"

"It wasn't your fault. He had most of us fooled. He suckered Renji into freeing Rukia. Renji played right into his plan. He was the only Captain that Kuchki Byakuya got along with because he fooled Kuchki Taicho as well. He fooled me into thinking it was Ichimaru that was the bad guy, even though he was the good guy all along. He got me to get you to stop trusting Ichimaru and even Izuru. He got even Rangiku to distrust Gin for a while, and I know they were pretty good friends."

Momo let a small smile grace her lips. 'Pretty good friends? Please,' she thought. 'They were much more than just that.' Of course Toushiro knew that, but he wasn't going to get into that now.

"Aizen had all of us fooled. So don't blame yourself Hinamori. And even if it _was_ your fault, which again, it _wasn't_, you don't deserve to be hurt at all, so don't you ever say anything like that again, got it?" Toushiro finished.

Momo nodded. "Okay Shiro-chan."

Hitsugaya breathed a sigh of relief. He even smiled a little. What a foolish girl! She gave him so much trouble! And yet, he loved her so much.

Wait…loved? Toushiro gasped inaudibly. Did he just admit to himself that he loved Hinamori? Yes. He had. Because he did. He loved her. He told himself he liked her, but that wasn't true. It was love. Matsumoto was right! So what was he supposed to do about that?

"Momo? I have to leave now," Hitsugaya said.

Momo nodded. She was happy. He didn't hate her. He still wanted to protect her.

Toushiro was happy too because she forgave him…not that she was ever mad at him in the first place.

"But first, I have to tell you something."

"What is it Shiro-chan?"

Hitsugaya took a deep breath. "I…" He stopped. How was he supposed to tell her he loved her? How was he supposed to start?

"Shiro-chan, I love you!" Hinamori suddenly yelled. She gasped, widened her eyes and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Toushiro looked at her, shocked. "Wh-what?"

"I-I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to come out like that. I mean, I wanted to tell you, but not like this. And I'm sorry for saying it. I mean-"

"Stop Momo," Toushiro said. "Don't be sorry."

"You're not mad?" Hinamori asked hopefully. Did that mean he loved her too?

"Of course I'm mad. But only because you beat me to the punch." He graced her with one of his rare smiles. "I love you too Hinamori Momo."

"R-really?" She never thought it possible. She wanted to tell Shrio she loved him, but she never expected him to feel the same way.

Hitsugaya nodded. Hinamori had said she loved him before he could tell her so the next move needed to be his. Without thinking, he walked over to her and kissed her. Hinamori was shocked for a moment, but soon kissed him back.

When they finally broke apart, Hinamori was smiling madly. So was Hitsugaya. That was something no one had ever seen before—not even Hinamori!

"Momo," he breathed, "I'm glad you forgive me, but could you forget we ever had this conversation. The part about Aizen I mean."

Hinamori shook her head. "No way Shiro-chan! This was the best day of my life. I don't want to forget a single moment of it. Do you?"

"Well no, but-"

"There you go. I forgive you Hitsugaya Taicho," she said playfully. "And I will never forget."

"I won't either then Momo," Toushiro replied. "I will never forget." With that, he started their second kiss.

**A/N: Yay! It's done! That little blurb about Ichigo and Rukia was just a spur of the moment thing, so hope you liked it. It's weird that I wanted to write that since I've suddenly really gotten into the RukiRenji pairing recently, but I love IchiRuki as well! Can't choose. Anyway, keep a look out for my next Bleach fic, which will be a HitsuHina one shot. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it will have some lame title, most probably Protect the Protector. Thanks for reading, and please review! I love when you guys favorite me, but a review is so much more encouraging than a favorite or an alert. So that's all for now.**

**-IndusLotas2001**


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